Getting around

Serbia’s bus network (www.bas.co.rs) is on the whole efficient and reliable – much more so than its trains. Most internal services run regularly throughout the day, and there are excellent links to neighbouring countries. Timetables can be confusing, so it’s well worth asking your hostel to phone ahead to check bus times. When buying your ticket, targeting younger staff may improve your chances of communicating in English. Keep hold of the coin handed back with your ticket – you’ll use it to pass through to the platform – and note that you should hang onto your outbound ticket if taking a return journey. Putting luggage in the hold costs around 40din.

Serbia’s underinvested and unreliable rail network (www.zeleznicesrbije.com) is of interest chiefly as a relic of the Yugoslav period. That said, fares are around half the price of the buses. Where possible, try and avoid the putnički (slow) services.